A Heartbreak
1.
As Mini's father is going out, his daughter stops him. She comes rushing. She asks, "Where are you going, Papa?"
"I told you the other day, the World Cup is starting tomorrow. I am going to get a fixture from the local newspaper shop", replies he.
"But Papa, it is Sunday today! Please stay with me", the little Mini urges.
Father explains to Mini how he and her brother are both mad about soccer. He must not waste any time. He must find the right fixture as soon as he can. He reminds Mini how her brother is destined to become a famous footballer one day, going by the way he is playing for his club.
Mini starts to think a bit. It is not that she dislikes football; in fact, she followed quite a lot of Italia 90. She still remembers Lothar Matthews, Schillachi, Schifo, Peter Shillton and of course Klinnsmann and Maradona. But she knows that her father is one-eyed. She knows that no matter how much she likes football, she could never become a football admirer. After all, she is a girl. Football is not for her!
But, can she do something to change her father? Can she too do something to be a part of the World Cup mania?
Mini goes to her mother and tells that she wants to skip her drawing classes for today as she is having a headache. Mother says, "Do you have a cold?"
"Yes Mummy, it could be. Papa took me to watch a boring football match the other day, and you know there was so much rain."
"But Mini, you should never say like that - it was your brother who was playing in that game and everybody was saying that he played so well! How could it be boring?" - asks the mother.
"Ok, ok, I get it. It was not boring. But Mom, you never say the same for me - I too paint well!" - argued the little girl.
The caring mother hugs the girl and says that she is the best artist in the world. The mother does this either to console the daughter or to avoid a situation of being partial to the son!
And of course the mother knows how to get around her daughter - her super-sentimental and somewhat arrogant, but, adorable daughter.
2.
Mini waits for her father to return - she snatches the fixture from him and takes it to her room. She shuts the door and opens the map-like folded paper.
The twelve-year girl takes out a chart paper and decides to make a big poster with the fixture and some pictures. She wants to make it attractive and colorful.
Mini's father tells his wife, "Ask your daughter to hang the whole of it on the wall opposite to the TV."
Mini looks at "Striker", the official mascot of this year's World Cup in USA. “Striker” is the funniest cartoon character she has ever seen. She tries to figure out how to jot it down. She thinks that the eyes could be a bit tricky to draw. But she is not the one to give up. In roughly two hours, she is done.
She then fixes her attention to the World Cup itself. She had saved a bit of golden color from the last water color set that she got from her uncle. Her uncle is the only one in her inner-circle that adores her work. In fact, her uncle is the only person she knows that admires her talents.
She ponders over the golden trophy for a while and tells herself that she must live up to her uncle's expectation. Her uncle is coming and visiting their house together with many others for the opening match. They must be treated with the sweetest surprise of them all!
The World Cup is finally ready after three hours of toiling. Now Mini needs to take a break. She should do something else; otherwise, the others will come to know what she is doing!
Mini takes a quick bath, finishes the lunch with her family and in no time she is back to her astonishing world. She is completely drowned in a feeling of excitement. An excitement of creation. An excitement of doing something for the "Beautiful Game"! It is her brother's domain alright, but she too should not be left out.
Now she needs to draw a table for the First Round, and then plant some nice arrows to connect the different knock-out rounds. She must be perfectly accurate, from Round of 16 to 8, to 4, and finally to the final. The third spot game must not be left out!
She has ended up using all her colors - pastels, sketch pens and of course water colors. The end product is ready now. It looks much better than the boring one that her father had brought from the shop. Hope her father too likes and appreciates her effort.
Now is the time to show it to her father. Of course, she cannot play football like her brother, but her love for the game is not less than that of her brother. After one full day's hard work, the time has finally come. The dinner is over and now the creator is ready with her creation to show it to its recipient. Mini takes the huge poster to her father's room, but her father is already asleep. She keeps the poster on his writing table. The poster contains "Striker" at the top left. The game details - with a tiny box that could be filled with the results -- cover the whole of the middle. The golden World Cup is at the bottom right.
3.
The entire next day passes with no one looking at the masterpiece that the little one has created. She too does not bother to show it to anyone. The father shouts and screams as to why the fixture is not yet put on the wall. He rushes from one room to the other - only to find it finally on his table together with the one his daughter has made. He happily ignores Mini's creation and chooses the one he bought the day before. His rude gesture shocks the little girl.
Mini overhears her father telling her mother, "It is good that Mini has done this. Not bad work, but she must spend time in real artwork. Now you know what the real reason was for her skipping the drawing class yesterday."
He continues, "What is all this fascination with football? She is a girl and it looks very odd that a girl is attracted to a game like football. What if tomorrow she asks us to let her play the game? Like her brother?"
Mini stands with her eyes fixed to the floor - she is so ashamed of not painting trees and doing sketches. She must not have ventured into her brother's world - the world of football.
Mini goes to her father's room, tears apart her unaccepted work and throws the parts into the dustbin. She cries all evening for her cute "Striker" and thinks hundred times whether she did the right thing by destroying it. But she never tells a single word to her parents. She is like that. She wants to show them what she is capable of. She will feel happy drawing some more beautiful sketches. Sketches of trees and villages. Sketches of something else. But nothing to do with football.
4.
Mini's house is filled with friends and neighbors. They have come to watch the first game and enjoy it together. Mini's uncle arrives and tells Mini's mother, "Sister, I saw a wonderful picture of the World Cup and the mascot inside your dustbin - was it Mini who made it?"
As Mini's father is going out, his daughter stops him. She comes rushing. She asks, "Where are you going, Papa?"
"I told you the other day, the World Cup is starting tomorrow. I am going to get a fixture from the local newspaper shop", replies he.
"But Papa, it is Sunday today! Please stay with me", the little Mini urges.
Father explains to Mini how he and her brother are both mad about soccer. He must not waste any time. He must find the right fixture as soon as he can. He reminds Mini how her brother is destined to become a famous footballer one day, going by the way he is playing for his club.
Mini starts to think a bit. It is not that she dislikes football; in fact, she followed quite a lot of Italia 90. She still remembers Lothar Matthews, Schillachi, Schifo, Peter Shillton and of course Klinnsmann and Maradona. But she knows that her father is one-eyed. She knows that no matter how much she likes football, she could never become a football admirer. After all, she is a girl. Football is not for her!
But, can she do something to change her father? Can she too do something to be a part of the World Cup mania?
Mini goes to her mother and tells that she wants to skip her drawing classes for today as she is having a headache. Mother says, "Do you have a cold?"
"Yes Mummy, it could be. Papa took me to watch a boring football match the other day, and you know there was so much rain."
"But Mini, you should never say like that - it was your brother who was playing in that game and everybody was saying that he played so well! How could it be boring?" - asks the mother.
"Ok, ok, I get it. It was not boring. But Mom, you never say the same for me - I too paint well!" - argued the little girl.
The caring mother hugs the girl and says that she is the best artist in the world. The mother does this either to console the daughter or to avoid a situation of being partial to the son!
And of course the mother knows how to get around her daughter - her super-sentimental and somewhat arrogant, but, adorable daughter.
2.
Mini waits for her father to return - she snatches the fixture from him and takes it to her room. She shuts the door and opens the map-like folded paper.
The twelve-year girl takes out a chart paper and decides to make a big poster with the fixture and some pictures. She wants to make it attractive and colorful.
Mini's father tells his wife, "Ask your daughter to hang the whole of it on the wall opposite to the TV."
Mini looks at "Striker", the official mascot of this year's World Cup in USA. “Striker” is the funniest cartoon character she has ever seen. She tries to figure out how to jot it down. She thinks that the eyes could be a bit tricky to draw. But she is not the one to give up. In roughly two hours, she is done.
She then fixes her attention to the World Cup itself. She had saved a bit of golden color from the last water color set that she got from her uncle. Her uncle is the only one in her inner-circle that adores her work. In fact, her uncle is the only person she knows that admires her talents.
She ponders over the golden trophy for a while and tells herself that she must live up to her uncle's expectation. Her uncle is coming and visiting their house together with many others for the opening match. They must be treated with the sweetest surprise of them all!
The World Cup is finally ready after three hours of toiling. Now Mini needs to take a break. She should do something else; otherwise, the others will come to know what she is doing!
Mini takes a quick bath, finishes the lunch with her family and in no time she is back to her astonishing world. She is completely drowned in a feeling of excitement. An excitement of creation. An excitement of doing something for the "Beautiful Game"! It is her brother's domain alright, but she too should not be left out.
Now she needs to draw a table for the First Round, and then plant some nice arrows to connect the different knock-out rounds. She must be perfectly accurate, from Round of 16 to 8, to 4, and finally to the final. The third spot game must not be left out!
She has ended up using all her colors - pastels, sketch pens and of course water colors. The end product is ready now. It looks much better than the boring one that her father had brought from the shop. Hope her father too likes and appreciates her effort.
Now is the time to show it to her father. Of course, she cannot play football like her brother, but her love for the game is not less than that of her brother. After one full day's hard work, the time has finally come. The dinner is over and now the creator is ready with her creation to show it to its recipient. Mini takes the huge poster to her father's room, but her father is already asleep. She keeps the poster on his writing table. The poster contains "Striker" at the top left. The game details - with a tiny box that could be filled with the results -- cover the whole of the middle. The golden World Cup is at the bottom right.
3.
The entire next day passes with no one looking at the masterpiece that the little one has created. She too does not bother to show it to anyone. The father shouts and screams as to why the fixture is not yet put on the wall. He rushes from one room to the other - only to find it finally on his table together with the one his daughter has made. He happily ignores Mini's creation and chooses the one he bought the day before. His rude gesture shocks the little girl.
Mini overhears her father telling her mother, "It is good that Mini has done this. Not bad work, but she must spend time in real artwork. Now you know what the real reason was for her skipping the drawing class yesterday."
He continues, "What is all this fascination with football? She is a girl and it looks very odd that a girl is attracted to a game like football. What if tomorrow she asks us to let her play the game? Like her brother?"
Mini stands with her eyes fixed to the floor - she is so ashamed of not painting trees and doing sketches. She must not have ventured into her brother's world - the world of football.
Mini goes to her father's room, tears apart her unaccepted work and throws the parts into the dustbin. She cries all evening for her cute "Striker" and thinks hundred times whether she did the right thing by destroying it. But she never tells a single word to her parents. She is like that. She wants to show them what she is capable of. She will feel happy drawing some more beautiful sketches. Sketches of trees and villages. Sketches of something else. But nothing to do with football.
4.
Mini's house is filled with friends and neighbors. They have come to watch the first game and enjoy it together. Mini's uncle arrives and tells Mini's mother, "Sister, I saw a wonderful picture of the World Cup and the mascot inside your dustbin - was it Mini who made it?"
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